Deadly blasts hit Afghanistan

At least 20 people, including civilians going to a wedding, are killed in a spate of attacks across the country.

A bomber on a motorcycle killed three policemen at a Kandahar checkpoint [AFP]

A spate of attacks across Afghanistan have killed 20 people, including women and a child on their way to a wedding, officials say.

The deadliest attack on Thursday happened in the southern Helmand province.

"Ten civilians, including four women and a child were killed in a roadside bomb attack as they were going to attend a wedding party in Musa Qala district of Helmand province," Ahmad Zeerak, the provincial governor's spokesman, told the AFP news agency.

Seven children were wounded in the blast, which police blamed on the Taliban.

Al Jazeera's Steve Chao, reporting from Helmand, said the province had experienced daily attacks, which had been seen as "an indication the Taliban are testing Afghan resolve" ahead of a 2014 international troop withdrawal.

In the southern city of Kandahar, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed at least three policemen when he blew himself up at a check point.

Nesar Ahmad, a resident of the nation's second-largest city, described the bomb as powerful, citing damage to windows in nearby buildings.

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Speaking to the Reuters news agency, Ahmad said "it was early in the morning when I heard a heavy bang, we came here and saw that a suicide attacker had targeted the check post, I have no more details about the incident".

Another three people were wounded in the Kandahar attack.

In the east, five soldiers of the Afghan National Army were killed after their convoy struck a landmine, said Sarhadi Zewak, spokesman for the provincial governor.